Nighthawks Defeat Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes

National Park College (NPC) Nighthawk Men’s basketball team defeated the Arkansas Baptist College Buffaloes Wednesday in Little Rock 90-82.

The Nighthawks faced another tough road contest. NPC was in control throughout the game. The Nighthawks took a 12-point lead into halftime 49-37, and expanded the lead to as much as 20 points to 87-67 with 3:30 to go in the second half. The Buffaloes hit a couple of late 3-pointers to narrow the margin late in the game, which closed the gap to 10 points. The Nighthawks pulled out the win with a final score of 90-82.

“It feels good to get this road win. We have played four in a row on the road and have gone 3-1 during that stretch. It is difficult to play on the road no matter the opponent, so I am very proud of how these young men have battled through this stretch of the season. We have a home game coming up on Tuesday and we are really looking forward to being back in our own gym in front of our home crowd,” said Head Coach, Jason Hudnell.

“I am proud that we had five guys in double figures. That means we are sharing the basketball, which is what we preach. When we do that, we are tough to beat,” said Hudnell.

Leading scorer for the men was Braylon Steen (24) of Bryant who scored 21 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists. Seth Duke (2) of Gravette earned 16 points, three rebounds and one assist. Lowell Washington (12) of Bryant added 15 points, eight rebounds and one assist. KJ Corder (13) of Hot Springs earned 14 points, six rebounds, one assists and a steal. Westin Church (10) of Pea Ridge had a good night with 10 points, one rebound, one assist, and a steal.

The Nighthawk men are back home next week after four road games. They will face Central Baptist College at 6 p.m. February 13 in the NPC Wellness Center.

The games are live streamed at www.xzerosports.com. A complete schedule of games and links to archived broadcasts of games are available at www.np.edu/athletics.